Climate change education, and mitigation, in our national parks

National Park Service Ranger Brian Ettling queues up his presentation on climate change with the familiar notes of the 1966 film The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Ettling, who has served as a seasonal ranger at Crater Lake National Park for…» Read more

In Oregon, a volatile climate for liquefied natural gas pipeline and terminal projects

In 2012, an energy company offered Deb Evans and Ron Schaaf $2,000 for an easement across their property in Klamath County, Oregon. The easement was for a portion of the Pacific Connector pipeline, which was to carry natural gas from the Western…» Read more

Timing, they say, is everything. In the late 1990s, government officials in San Diego, worried that just 10 percent of the municipal water supply came from local sources, approached residents with a proposal to help wean the city off imported water. The city wanted to build a facility that reclaimed water from the wastewater treatment plant and added it to San Diego’s drinking water. When groups rallied to oppose the project, voicing…» Read more

Dams across the United States are being decommissioned and rivers restored to their natural flow. As scientists are learning, tearing down the barriers is just the first step in returning a river to health.

One hundred and twenty-six miles from the Pacific Ocean, in Southwest Oregon’s Jackson County, the “Wild and Scenic” Rogue River lives up to its name. Swift, cold water rollicks over boulders, sweeps around a large downed tree, and rushes onward. On the south bank, Craig Tuss pauses to inspect a clump of waist-high willows sprouting from the gravel. He’s pleased. Three years ago this area – where the Gold Ray Dam once…» Read more

Fish endanger bird populations on the Pacific Flyway

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, in the heart of Southeast Oregon’s Harney Basin, could well be described as the middle of nowhere. But for migratory birds it’s a hub as important as Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Malheur supports more than 320 species of…» Read more